The Business of Beef
Claybrook Angus Farm.......................................................................................... 10

chief financial officer
Rhonda Harsy

ABOUT This book is published by CommunityLink and distributed
through the Covington-Tipton County Chamber of Commerce. For
advertising information or questions or comments about this book,
contact CommunityLink at 800-455-5600 or by e-mail at
info@CommunityLink.com.
FOR INFORMATION Covington-Tipton County Chamber of
Commerce, 106 W. Liberty, Covington, TN 38019, phone 901-4769726, fax 901-476-0056, www.covington-tiptoncochamber.com

A Christmas Carol in Covington
Community Celebrates a Dickens of a Holiday

H

ow often do you have the opportunity to step back in time
for a weekend, experience something special for the entire
family and it not cost you anything?
During the second weekend of December, the Covington
town square is transformed to resemble a Christmas setting
of mid-19th-century Victorian England. Colorful characters such as Tiny
Tim, Scrooge and Marley’s ghost can be found mingling with merchants
and vendors dressed in historical attire around the square. Delight your
senses with Christmas carolers, musicians, street performers, story telling
and puppet shows while you explore the shops around the square, all
decked out in their Victorian Christmas finery. Enjoy some of the traditional
English fare offered by our restaurants. Spectators are encouraged to dress
in authentic English clothing of the late 1860s and early 1870s and come
on out for the fun:

• Father Christmas will be in the gazebo on the courthouse lawn listening
to the wishes of children.
• Kyle Witherington will be reading The Night Before Christmas several
times during the event.
• A Punch and Judy puppet show will be performed several times during
the event.
• Newspaper boys will be selling the Covington Times for a nickel. This
paper lists the times and places of all of the events. A map of the town
square is located on the back.
• Carriage rides will be available for a small fee.
There will be plenty of activities for the entire family to enjoy throughout the day, and the event is free to all!
www.covington-tiptoncochamber.com

Hours
The bloodstained first national flag of the Confederacy, carried by Company C, 9th Tennessee Infantry in
16 Civil War battles, including Shiloh, Perryville, Franklin and Murfreesboro, is on permanent display
at the Tipton County Museum. Tipton County schoolteachers made the flag in 1861 and presented it to
Company C, which formed in the Clopton community in Tipton County.

n 1993, the Tipton County Veterans Council began studying the
feasibility of constructing a Veterans Memorial facility to display
historical artifacts and to commemorate those who served and
who are now serving in our country’s Armed Forces. Concurrently,
the city of Covington acquired an additional 20-acre area expanding Cobb-Parr Memorial Park. With this additional land, the city of
Covington’s Park and Recreation Department created the first designated
nature preserve and greenway system in Tipton County. On this 20-acre
site, the Park and Recreation Department planned to develop a plant and
wildlife sanctuary, an outdoor classroom for all citizens to enjoy, and an
indoor nature center to support the learning of natural sciences.
Since the Veterans Council and the Covington Parks and Recreation
Department were both striving to enrich the quality of life for the citizens of
Tipton County, the two organizations combined efforts, ideas and resources
with the Board of Mayor and Aldermen of the city of Covington, the Tipton
County Legislature, and the state of Tennessee to construct the Tipton
County Museum, Veterans Memorial & Nature Center. The facility opened
its doors to the public on November 11, 1998.
One of the first facilities in the country to bring together military history,
environmental education and historical preservation, the Tipton County
Museum is truly unique. This million-dollar facility is located in the largest urban park in Tipton County and includes a 20-acre wildlife sanctuary
and nature preserve, a half-mile nature trail through a woodland forest,
and a wetland study area. The museum houses changing historical exhibits
featuring artifacts from Tipton County’s rich heritage and a nature center

depicting the unique ecosystem of Tipton County and West Tennessee. The
well-manicured grounds include a beautiful garden, a picnic area and a
rather large pond stocked with fish, frogs and turtles.
Over a 14-year period, the changing exhibits at the Tipton County
Museum have included:
• World War II: A Closer Look
• Vietnam
• Preserving Our Stories: 150 Years of the Tennessee Historical Society
(traveling exhibit from the Tennessee State Museum)
• The Civil War: A Nation Divided
• Korea: A Hot Spot In the Cold War (including a traveling exhibit from
the Tennessee State Museum)
• World War II: The Pacific Theater
• World War II: The European Theater and the American Home Front
• Bagels and Barbecue: The Jewish Experience in Tennessee (traveling
exhibit from the Tennessee State Museum)
• From the American Revolution to the Middle East Crisis: A Military
Collection
• Hoofbeats in the Heartland: Civil War Cavalry in Tennessee (traveling
exhibit from the Tennessee State Museum)
• A Military Salute
• Common People in Uncommon Times: The Civil War Experience in
Tennessee (traveling exhibit from the Tennessee State Museum)
www.covington-tiptoncochamber.com

5

These changing historical exhibits have interpreted the legacy of those Tipton County citizens
who have served and who are now serving in
our country’s Armed Forces. The patriotic and
informative displays have been drawn from hundreds of artifacts donated by veterans and their
families. The exhibits have also featured artifacts
from Tipton County’s rich heritage that provide a
fascinating account of our cultural history.
The Tipton County Museum’s natural history
exhibits do not change, with the exception of
additions — and a great many additions have
been made to this educational area since the
museum doors opened in 1998. The Nature
Center is now showcasing a state-of-the-art display case housing approximately 86 mineral
specimens from the United States and many foreign countries; a collection of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks; a 60 million-yearold fish fossil from the Green River formation
in Wyoming; a 6-pound meteorite from Odessa,
Texas; three tektite stone meteorites; a trilobite

specimen; an 85-pound diamond-sawed log section of petrified wood from a ranch adjoining the
National Petrified Forest in Arizona; and additional specimens for student Rock and Mineral
Workshops. A “Discovery Center” and Kiosk
Computer System programs help explain relationships among the plants and animals in the
world around us. Children of all ages enjoy seeing and touching the lifelike displays of animals
that live and roam in Tipton County. Examples of
snakes, spiders, butterflies, bees, moths, worms
and other creepy, crawly critters can be found
throughout the Nature Center. All of the natural
history exhibits are designed to teach elements
of ecology, botany, zoology and geology through
interaction and discovery.
Along with the natural history and history
exhibits, the museum staff has developed an
array of interactive programs in science and
social studies for students in grades kindergarten through eight. Approximately 1,500 area
students enjoy the “Museum Experience” each

A permanent military display pays tribute to Joseph B. Adkinson, an army veteran from
Tipton County who was Tennessee’s first Medal of Honor recipient during World War I.

6

Covington-Tipton County Chamber of Commerce

spring and fall. And, in an effort to become a
premier educational facility, the Tipton County
Board of Education designated the museum as
a CLASSROOM EXTENSION FACILITY. Adult
programs and tours, special events, and an
annual February Gardening Series of lectures
are just some of the museum’s diverse offerings.
Through history and natural history exhibits,
19 educational programs, tours, events, and life
enhancement opportunities, people are being
connected to history and nature through education at the Tipton County Museum, Veterans
Memorial & Nature Center.
The Tipton County Museum has grown quite
a bit over the last 14 years, and this growth has
been made possible by the continuing support of
the Board of Mayor and Aldermen of the city of
Covington, the Tipton County Executive, and the
Tipton County Legislature. The museum could
not exist without funding from our local governments. State Rep. Jimmy Naifeh has greatly
assisted with museum funding by helping to
secure state grants for exhibit improvements
and educational programming. Funds from
the Museum Corporate Sponsors — including Patriot Bank, The Tipton County Veterans
Council and the Bank of Tipton — have made it
possible to upgrade exhibit designs, improve the
quality of student field trips, expand opportunities for families, and otherwise enhance the offerings of the museum. Museum members, known
as Friends of the Museum, are the backbone of
museum growth. Members of the Tipton County
Museum, Veterans Memorial & Nature Center
share a dedication to preserving and restoring the
historic collections for present and future generations. Member support also allows the Tipton
County Museum to serve visitors and school
children with enriching and stimulating tours,
public programs, and special events. Annual
membership dollars are essential to ensure that
necessary funds are available to provide exhibits
filled with Tipton County’s history and educational programs that are immeasurable in worth
to our children and to our community.
The Tipton County Museum Board of
Directors includes Chairman Vernon Pairmore,
city of Covington Mayor David Gordon, ViceChairman Charles Chumley, Ann Smith, Jere
Hadley, Kerry Overton, Sherl Rose, L. K. Dyson,
Tommy Hatcher, David Seagrave and David
Gwinn. The museum staff consists of Director
Alice Fisher, Program Coordinator Elizabeth
Newman and a part-time museum clerk.
Please plan to visit the Tipton County
Museum, Veterans Memorial & Nature Center.
This museum is a place for families, a place for
fun and painlessly educational.

Passion for Herbs Grows Into a 29-Year Business
Anthony’s Greenhouse & Herb Farm

J

ean and Bob Anthony have been married
for 60 years. They met at a dance at the
Top Hat in Covington on a Saturday night.
A whole bunch of their friends were there,
and everybody was having a good time dancing to
the music on the jukebox. This was in February
1951. By November, they were married.
They moved to the farm on Brighton-Clopton
Road where Bob was born. Bob farmed and ran
a dairy on land that has been in his family for
five generations. “At that time, there were about

30 dairy farms in Tipton County; now there are
none,” he says.
Jean worked in the public sector until 1969.
All of this changed suddenly and drastically
when Bob was in a terrible automobile accident
that rendered him unconscious for five weeks.
While he convalesced for more than a year, Jean
had to learn the business of running the dairy
and the farm.
“I taught myself how to drive the tractor,” she
states. “I promptly mowed down the brand-new

McBride Stitt & Williams
Double Column
(DC)
4.833" x 3.167"

8

Covington-Tipton County Chamber of Commerce

by Christine Lemons
hay trough. But, I figured out how to drive the
tractor.”
She learned to milk and care for the cows,
buy the feed, tend the crops, and manage the
farm. It wasn’t her passion, but she did what she
had to do and she let her pioneer spirit shine
through. In the male-dominated and somewhat
chauvinistic world, she had to earn the respect
of her male peers.
“It took some time,” Jean says, “for (the) men
to show me respect.” It was not easily acquired,
though. In the beginning, Jean shares, “The feed
store sold feed to my husband on a monthly
credit basis. When I took over the farm, the store
informed me that I had to pay each time I bought
feed. It didn’t take me long to find another feed
store.”
Jean’s father, also a farmer, was her staunchest supporter. “He would come by to check on
me, sometimes several times a day. Each time he
came, he would tell me that he loved me,” Jean
proudly remembers.
He died suddenly in 1971. Despite her shock
and sadness, she somehow mustered the will to
help her mother run her parent’s farm while still
managing her own farm while her husband continued to heal. But one day she had had enough.
She said, “I quit! I was tired of running
the dairy and the farm and I hated that cotton
picker.” As Jean recalls her life at that time, she

stated, “It was a great experience, but I wouldn’t
want to do it again.”
Her passion for herbs began to grow when, in
1983, Jean started a simple herb farm with rosemary, sage, basil and parsley. It has grown from
there. Bob sold the dairy in 1986 and has helped
her ever since. They work together, but according
to Bob, “It’s her baby; I’m just here to help.”
Jean is a walking encyclopedia on herbs.
She walks through the greenhouse generously
sharing useful information on each plant she
sees. For example, Roger’s delight blooms like
an azalea, and the foliage is lemony. Lovage has a
hollow stem that can be a substitute for the celery
stalk in a Bloody Mary. Salad burnet tastes like
cucumber and can be used in cucumber salad or
sandwiches. Jean herself cooks with fresh herbs
every day. “If it weren’t for herbs, she wouldn’t
know how to cook,” Bob proudly proclaims.
Plants are individually nurtured in a “birthing
room” from either a cutting off the mother plant
or from seed. According to Jean, “Gardening
is the most stress-free environment. All of my
plants are male. You can fuss at them and they
don’t talk back. They love the music that we play
in the greenhouse. They grow like mad. You can
tell the difference overnight.”
Twenty-nine years ago, an annual plant sale
was started at the end of May to mark the close
of the season. Jean began to invite speakers to
come and give lectures on subjects like roses,
herbs and hydrangeas. She converted the barn
into a meeting room for plant lectures and cooking demonstrations. Gradually, she added vendors of homemade herbal products like soaps,
bath salts and baked goods. After some years, it
became known as the Herb Festival. It now has
a huge following. “The sheriff’s department sends
someone out each year to help manage all of the
traffic,” Jean says. “Cars are parked up and down
both sides of the street.”
In 2012, the Herb Festival will celebrate its
23rd anniversary on Memorial Day weekend
(May 26–27). Jean will be providing another “A”
list of speakers. Crafts with also be available.
And, of course, there will be the plant sale.
Among the various herbs and plants Jean grows
and sells at the festival is Kentucky Colonel mint,
used to make mint juleps. There are several varieties of lavender and rosemary available, as well
as sorrel, which comes up early in the spring and
is the key ingredient in sorrel soup. There’s even
a mosquito plant that you can purchase. If you
crush the oily leaves and rub them on your skin,
it repels mosquitoes.
It’s easy to see why Jean’s work is her pleasure.
She loves what she does. “Bob and I have met
some of the nicest people you will ever meet in
your life.”
www.covington-tiptoncochamber.com

9

The Business of Beef
Claybrook Angus Farm

T

here is a place in the Covington
countryside, down old country roads, that Carl Turner and
his family call home. The name
is Claybrook Angus Farm, and
it is one of only a handful of family-owned
and -operated farms left in Tipton County. The
farm is nationally known for performance Angus
cattle and the production of ranch-raised, premium Angus beef. The Turner family should be
proud to boast that they are in their third generation of operation. But Carl Turner isn’t the
boastful type. He’s actually a shy and humble
man who prefers to tend to the business of running his 1,500-acre farm without pomp. “This
is hard work,” he declares. “It is a true business.
When you are in the livestock business, it is a
24/7/365 operation.”
Carl and his wife, Jean, played together as
children. They attended the same grade school
and the same high school at Leigh’s Chapel.
Farming seemed like a natural career path for
him since his parents were farmers. In the late
1950s and early 1960s, he studied agriculture
and animal science at UT Knoxville, where he
was also involved in the FFA and 4H clubs. He
and Jean moved to Claybrook Farm in the 1960s,
and they’ve been there ever since. They reared
four sons who are now grown. Two of them,
Chris and Dave, work on the farm with Carl.
For the last 35 years, Claybrook has been
diversified. “It is more than a cattle farm,” Turner
states. Of the 1,500 acres of working farm land,
500 acres is grass pasture for grazing. The other
1,000 acres is used for row crops. “We grow soybeans, wheat, hay and corn. We grow all our own
grain to feed these cows. We conduct research to

10

produce a higher-quality, more enjoyable food
source,” he says.
The livestock is also given a mineral supplement made up of calcium, phosphorus and other
elements. An ultrasound of the yearlings is conducted to determine the quality of muscling and
the amount of marbling — the inner disbursement of fat is what makes the meat tasty.
Turner also sells breeding stock, shipping live
bulls nationwide. The Claybrook Farm brand can
be found throughout the United States. Carl says
that his cattle can be found in the Napa Valley in
California, on the Canadian line of North Dakota,
and even as far south as the bayou on the Gulf
Coast in Louisiana.
Pure-bred Aberdeen Angus was developed
specifically for beef production in Scotland in the
1600s and the 1700s. All other breeds were bred
to pull a plow or for milk production. Angus
cattle are generally good-natured and adaptable,
hardy and undemanding, maturing at around
2 years of age. Angus females give birth easily, without much stress, and have excellent
calf-raising abilities. Gestation is approximately
275 days, and a typical Angus calf is small.
The cows usually rebreed each year. Carl
states that between April to mid-summer it’s not
uncommon to see cows nursing while carrying
next year’s calf at the same time. Since females are
for breeding, each one births an average of 10 to
12 calves. The males are used both for breeding
and for beef production.
Farming is the only business Carl Turner has
ever known. “I’ve traveled all over the United
States. My wife and I have been on a couple of
cruises. I’ll tell you, there’s really no place like
home,” Turner quietly reveals.

Covington-Tipton County Chamber of Commerce

by Christine Lemons
People ask him if he will ever retire. His
response is to ask them, “How do you retire from
your hobby? I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. I’ve loved
to go to work every day.”
Claybrook Farm has entered a new adventure. Claybrook Farm Meat Company was created in early 2012. This is a joint venture with
the farm and Michael Rice to bring beef from the
farm to the table. They are also supplying meat
to such fine restaurants as Chez Philippe in the
Peabody.

A Brief History of
Claybrook Farm
In the early 1900s, three Claybrook sisters
inherited a farm consisting of a large tract of land
northeast of Covington that stretched down to
the Hatchie River. The sisters would stay at the
Lindo Hotel when they traveled to Covington
twice a year to conduct business.
In the 1930s, Covington businessman Bate
Shelton purchased the farm. It is said that he
owned one of the area’s first Ford dealerships and
Ford Tractor Company. When Shelton died, the
farm was passed down to his nephew, Jack Jetton,
in the 1950s.
Jetton and Carl Turner began raising Angus
cattle on the farm in the 1960s. When Mr. and
Mrs. Jetton died in 1988, the farm was split and
sold. The row crop acreage was sold to the Doug
Billings family, while Carl Turner purchased
the rolling pasture acreage. Both families still
continue their respective farms to this day. The
Turner family is in their third generation of
operation.

Got Game?
Turner Game Birds

by Christine Lemons

T

ed Turner and his family run a farm where a lot of interesting
activity takes place.
A large rooster named “Colonel” struts around like he
owns the place. It’s not Turner’s rooster. It showed up awhile
ago and just hangs around threatening to flog passersby. Sheep
with their lambs wander in a field near the barn. A set of creamy white
cat brothers roll around on the ground, while in nearby pens are German
short-haired pointers bark incessantly, waiting to go hunting. All but one
dog was bred from the same mother. The youngest is 10 months old and
already hunts with the older dogs. Nestled in the midst of this bustling farm
in Tipton County is Turner Game Birds. Here, Ted Turner has a wild game
preserve of Chinese ring-necked pheasant and bobwhite quail. It just goes
to show that you never know what you’ll find in Covington, Tennessee.
Ted and his twin brother were born on the place. He grew up playing
with his six brothers and swimming in the pond that was on the farm. “It’s
where I learned to swim,” he recalls. Silt from a neighboring property filled
it in years ago. “When we were kids, my brothers and I would come home
covered in mud. Mother would cringe because she knew we had been
swimming in that pond again,” he remembers. His dad grew up on the farm
across the street. In fact, four generations of Turners have lived and farmed
in that general area. Many Turner family members still farm within a stone’s
throw of each other.

After Ted graduated from high school in 1961, he attended UT Martin.
In 1968, he came back to the farm where he and his wife, Carolyn, have
been ever since. She worked in banking for many years before retiring,
while he was an ag teacher at Covington High School.
In addition to farming, Turner was an auctioneer. Back in 2000, he had
some commission revenue set aside, so he took his son to South Dakota, the
pheasant-hunting capital. It was on this trip that Ted shot his first pheasant.
“I said to my son, ‘We could do this back home,’” he recalls. The seed sown
on that trip developed into the business that became Turner Game Birds.
He started with 12 Chinese ring-necked pheasant. “They are upland
birds, not waterfowl,” Turner says. “The biggest expense is the feed — 250
birds eat about 50 pounds of feed per day.”
In addition to the pheasant, Turner also raises bobwhite quail. The quail
and pheasant live together in a 50-by-100-foot flight pen. Breeding is generally part of his game business, but because he is redoing his pens, he will
not be breeding this year.
Turner explains, “This is what is called a ‘put and take’ hunting preserve.
The birds are wild game, so once they are turned loose in an area of brushy
sage grass, they run free. It is a ‘fair chase’ when they are released.”
During a hunt, his dogs smell the game, then “freeze and point” to flush
out the birds. Pheasant prefer to run rather than fly, but when surprised,
they erupt from the ground attempting to fly to nearby cover. A hen will
blend right into the sage grass where it will “hold,” hoping to be undetected
by the hunter.
Generally, a farm that has sage grass growing on its land is an indication
of low soil fertility. Though Turner’s soil tests high in elements and is ideal
for raising crops, he deliberately grows the sage grass for his birds. “In some
places this year, it’s a little thin. I like it to be thicker to hide the birds,” he
states. He burns it off around the first of April, at the end of hunting season.
Ring-necked pheasant can be hunted year-round in Tennessee, but
hunting season at Turner Game Birds is from October 1 through the end
of March. A typical “fair chase” hunt consists of one to six people, but four
is the ideal number of participants. The cost is $135 per gun, for which
you receive the opportunity to shoot four pheasant and 12 quail, or you

can choose a combo pack. Guides and dogs are included in the price. You
may bring your own dogs, but the price is the same. A safety talk is given
before each hunt, and hunts can last between 2.5 to 3 hours, but times can
vary. Turner doesn’t carry a gun on the hunts, and he doesn’t shoot for his
customers. He makes no guarantees of a minimum catch. You take home
what you shoot. There is an additional, though minimal, processing fee to
have your birds rough dressed for freezing.
Other than a print ad that he runs in the locally distributed Mid-South
Hunting and Fishing News magazine, Turner finds that he really doesn’t need
to advertise. He is fortunate to receive most of his business through wordof-mouth endorsements from previously satisfied customers. The oldest
hunter that ever came to hunt was 95. “Yes, he shot a pheasant! You meet
a lot of interesting people. Some you have a ball with; some you never care
to see again,” he states.
Visit their website for more information: www.turnergamebirds.com.

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Covington-Tipton County Chamber of Commerce

Everything’s Coming Up Roses
Wells Mid South Roses

S

pringtime in the greenhouse of Wells
Mid South Roses must be an awesome
sight to behold. After all, Whit Wells
grows some of the highest-rated show
roses in the world. As a rose hybridizer, he creates roses of unusual color combinations. Some of them are solid, while some have
varying shades of color on the blooms. Many are
close to perfect in form and are high centered.
Ironically, Wells did not sell a single rose
for Valentine’s Day. That doesn’t bother Whit,
though, because selling flowers is not what he
does. He sells plants, not cut flowers. Most of his
plants are show roses anyway, so he doesn’t sell
many locally. Many, though, are shipped all over
the United States. “I ship more roses to California
and Ohio than anywhere else,” he says.
Wells guesses that he has always had an
appreciation for roses. He remembers being
in his grandmother’s rose garden before ever
attending school as a little boy. The true passion
began around 1955 or so, some time after Whit
and his wife, Kathryn, married. He bought three
rose bushes in Memphis, and the love has grown
from there.
The Wells name is actually better known in
Tipton County as a family of grocers and restaurateurs than for roses. Whit Wells was born
in 1930 in the store that his dad bought from
his grandfather. The house was on one end of
the building, and the store, which had one gas
pump, was on the other end. Whit says, “As far
as I know, my family has been in the grocery

by Christine Lemons
business longer than any other family in Tipton
County.”
Lack of a formal education didn’t deter Whit
from success. Despite the fact that he never finished grammar school, he built the Wells Meat
Processing Plant and worked there for 45 years
until he sold it at age 65. Somehow, in spite
of family and work demands, he always found
time to garden his roses. “You make time,” he
declares. He and Kathryn spent much of their
time together growing roses. Before her death in
2004, they traveled to the various rose conventions. “People from all over the world attend
these conventions,” he says with excitement.

In 1972, he was president of the Memphis
Rose Society. He has maintained his membership
in the Rose Hybridizers Association and for a
long time was an accredited national judge. “My
life was really busy and I needed to give up something, so I gave up judging.” he says.
Life in the greenhouse hasn’t always been
the proverbial bed of roses, though. In 1989, he
sprayed his roses with a bad fungicide, and it
killed over 17,000 of his plants; some of them he
had been crossing for over 10 years. One rose he
lost had green petals when it was in full bloom.
“That’s the way life is. The more it costs you, the
longer you can remember it,” he states with a

smile. It took several years for him and his roses to
recover. Despite such hardships, he has remained
a very pleasant and optimistic man.
He estimates that he has created close to 80
different rose varieties. His roses, along with all
varieties in the world, are registered with the
American Rose Society in Shreveport, La., of
which he is a member.
Wells has named a number of roses after
celebrities. Before his death, Danny Thomas
signed written permission for Whit to name a
rose after him. Brenda Lee said that the miniature
yellow rose with a red edge he named after her
was the prettiest rose in the world.
Whit even named a red rose after the Brighton
Cardinals. “I figure that Brighton is the only high
school in the state of Tennessee with a rose
named after it,” he shares. The “Memphis King,”
a deep red rose, is one of the highest-rated varieties he grows.
His commemorative “911” rose is a deep red
with no real fragrance, while the “Ground Zero”
is a pink blend with a beautiful scent.
Country music legend Jimmy Dickens
recently gave written permission to have a rose
named “Little Jimmy Dickens,” which was then
presented to him at the Grand Ole Opry. This
beautiful rose will join several more of Whit’s
roses in the Nashville Music Garden Hall of
Fame park, including a red rose named “Elvis”;
“Barbara Mandrell,” which is light pink; “Rocky
Top,” a coral pink; and “Tennessee Waltz,” a pink
blend.
About his world renowned roses, he humbly
says, “I do about 10 percent of the work, and
God does the rest. I just hope I’m doing my 10
percent well.” He adds, “I’ve always said that
when it gets to be really hard work, I’ll quit.”
According to Wells, it’s hard to quit something that you love to do.

The information in this membership directory has been provided and reviewed for accuracy by the Covington-Tipton County Chamber of Commerce. CommunityLink and Craig Williams Creative Inc. assume no responsibility for omissions or errors of any kind.